The Ballet of George Balanchine Prodigal Son is presented by arrangement with The George Balanchine Trust and has been produced in accordance with the Balanchine Style® and Balanchine Technique® service standards established and provided by the Trust

The Mariinsky Theatre would like to express its gratitude to Mrs Bettina von Siemens for her support in bringing the "Ballets of George Balanchine" project to life

Prodigal Son was the last work Balanchine made for Diaghilev’s Ballets russes in 1929 with Serge Lifar in the role of the Prodigal Son; it was revived in 1950 by the New York City Ballet with Jerome Robbins in the title role. Its music by Prokofiev was written for the ballet, and its costumes and décor were created by Rouault, making it a perfect example of the collaborative efforts among artists that produced some of the best works of the Diaghilev era. New for a Diaghilev ballet was the Biblical theme and the religious spirit. In seeking eternal themes and turning to past artistic devices, western artists were trying to avoid the complete intellectual and artistic degeneration towards which their rootless experimentation was leading. Prodigal Son anticipated the trend toward religion of the 1930s and 40s. It was Diaghilev’s fate that he would always be ahead of fashion, even when he believed he had turned his back on vogue. The return of Prodigal Son to St Petersburg is of great significance. For the first time, a ballet of the most radical, late period of Diaghilev’s Saisons russes has returned to the stage of the Mariinsky Theatre. That period of Russian and world ballet has come home, which until recently was under artistic (avant-garde aesthetics of the late Diaghilev era) and ideological (use of religious motifs) censorship. With the return of Prodigal Son, the Mariinsky Theatre and its generation of young dancers have begun to restore an objective picture of the development of ballet in the 20th century.

The eponymous music was written in 1936. Prokofiev had just returned to homeland after twenty years of travelling and was counting on instant success: genuine folkloric melodies, accessible language, colourful orchestration – the nature of the carnival referring to Stravinsky’s Pétrouchka and Prokofiev’s Chout. Taking up after the composer, who was attracted by generalisations and theatrical exaggerations, the choreographer Maxim Petrov does not depict a specific Russia – before us we do not have the Thirtieth Kingdom, where there is always an abundance of feasting, the sun always shines and the merriment lasts until the eyes close.

Bogdan Korolyok

Premiere: 4 July 2016, Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg

Running time: 15 minutes

"Violin Concerto number 2"

CREDITS

Music by Sergei Prokofiev (Violin Concerto No 2 in G Minor)

Musical Director: Valery Gergiev

Choreography by Anton Pimonov

Conductor: Ivan Stolbov

Scenography by Anastasia Travkina and Sergei Zhdanov

Costume Designer: Arina Boganova

Lighting Designer: Konstantin Binkin

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

Anton Pimonov has turned to international language, to balletic neoclassicism. The main themes are movement and love of classical dance – the choreographer interprets this after the manner of Balanchine. This is partially reflected in the title, Violin Concerto No 2, an echo of Balanchine’s own Violin Concerto, but with a respectful secondary number.